Believe In Me
by Madara-Baka
Summary: NARUTO YAOI, MadaPein, various Akatsuki pairings. More within! There seemed to be nothing more to Tobi than a naive kid. But the day he saw bruises on Konan's arm was the day that the orange mask began to crumble and fall away, revealing someone the Akatsuki didn't know. Someone named Uchiha Madara, complete with sarcasm, violence, family problems and the dream to be a rockstar.
1. 1 - Stutter

Hey, Hi, Hello

Welcome to chapter one of 'Believe In Me', a MadaPein story I mentioned I was writing at some point in time. I've forgone all warnings to myself that I shouldn't be writing this until I get my two short stories done, as well as at least five prompts for The Flame done and up to chapter twelve or thirteen for Indebted and five written for TMK's sequel. I haven't all of those self appointed goals (in fact, I have completed a grand total of one of them), unfortunately for me. Fortunately for who ever enjoys MadaPein short stories involving a little bit of violence, along with humor and the long road to rockstardom, I can't control myself or deny my writing impulses. Oh well, more yaoi! Thanks go to lostintheabyss- she'll be helping me a lot with this story! 3

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Madara-chan or any others involved in this fic, unless specifically stated within the text. T/-\T  
**WARNINGS: **A sadist and a stutterer, with a bonus of blood, violence and cussing.

~BELIEVE~

If I had to pinpoint a day this all started, I would say it began when I saw the bruises on Konan-chan's arm.

It can be argued that it was really the day I changed myself from Madara to Tobi, or maybe the day Konan-chan got that asshole boyfriend. But the day the little switch in me was flipped from retarded little Tobi to the real me, the one I'd pushed so far back into my head it didn't resurface for a decade and a half, Uchiha Madara, was the day everything changed. I was Uchiha Madara from that point forward, the one who didn't like boyfriends who hit their girlfriends, or for anybody to hit their significant other, and especially if said girlfriend was Konan-chan. The one who would make sure the boyfriend remembered his place and was so scared of touching a girl, violently or not, he wouldn't be able to do so for the rest of his life without thinking of the exact moment I found out.

It's lunch time, a few days before Christmas break started in. A thin blanket of snow covered the ground, and it was freezing fucking cold outside. I wasn't really sure why Pein insisted upon us sitting outside for lunch all the time. It didn't matter why, not really, because I was still freezing my ass off, despite the fact I was sandwiched between Deidara and Kisame and wearing three sweaters. Konan sat across from me, tapping her hand against her thigh. She forgot her coat at her house and Pein was retrieving an extra he had in his car for her. Her worthless boyfriend wasn't far away, just visiting with a few of his friends.

I wouldn't have noticed if it weren't for the way she stretched her arms out to get the hoodie Pein offered, or how she put it on. She smiles gratefully, telling him thank you. Her smile is forced and her voice sounds a little bit tired, an imitation of the tinkling, pleasant sound that it used to be. Pein shrugs his shoulders and tells her it was no big deal. She stretches her arms out above her head, beginning to pull the hoodie on. Her shirt sleeve exposes a little stretch of skin just below her shoulders. A dark, blue-ish hue discolors the skin there, the shape of fingerprints on her arm.

That was the exact moment Uchiha Madara came back. My mind put together the pieces- the bruises the shape of Sakon's fingers, the way she's seemed so upset lately, and the way she tensed up when he touched her. All the outside noise quiets down, a dull roar growing in my ears. I focus in on the her arm, though the hoodie's on and her bruised skin concealed. I feel bile rise in my throat as my brain conjures images of her cowered in the corner, desperate to protect herself from him.

My gaze flickers to the dumb little bitch that was about to be in a hell of a lot of pain. Sakon. I stand, squeezing my elbows in a little bit to get past Kisame's bulk. The rage tinges my vision red. I look back to Konan-chan. She's looking back at me, like she's beginning to sense my fury. "Tobi-kun, what're you-"

"He won't hurt you anymore. Promise," I utter, voice dropping down to its natural level. Her eyes widen and she knows, knows exactly what I'm talking about.

She rises to her feet, shaky and unbalanced. "No, Tobi, don't you dare!" I ignore her words, brushing past a bewildered Pein. Heading toward Sakon. I tap his shoulder. He spins around, a slightly annoyed smile on his face. He opens his mouth to speak.

He doesn't get the chance.

I hit his nose with ease, deadly force behind my blow. Blood spurts from his nose, his hands automatically clutching his nose in an effort to stop the bleeding. It was broken. The snow at his feet is sprinkled with little crimson dots. He doubles over, groaning with pain. I knot one of my gloved hands through his hair not more than fifteen seconds after hitting him, slamming his face down onto the hood of the nearest car. He falls to the ground, splayed out on his back. How pitiful, I think, my booted foot putting just enough pressure on his throat to make him feel uncomfortable.

"If you ever touch her again..." I leave the threat unspoken, glaring down at his form. Some of the blood from his nose gets into his mouth, and he coughs a little bit. The sight would have been more enjoyable if my gaze wasn't still clouded with red.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," he croaks out. There's no one talking around us, everyone just shocked speechless. Good, I wanted this to stand as a warning to all who heard of it that making the same stupid decisions Sakon was making would reap similar consequences. I didn't approve of any form of domestic violence and wouldn't stand by as it happened.

I press harder with my boot. "Bullshit!" I snarl. "You know exactly what you did!" He seemed to be really panicking now, his eyes going wide and his breath becoming more labored.

"Alright, I d-do!" He says, "but I'm sorry, I s-swear!"

I chuckle humorlessly, removing my boot and crouching next to him. I take his face in one hand, squeezing his cheeks together like he was a disobedient child. "Are you scared? You're stuttering. Stop fucking** stuttering**. And I bet she was scared, too, right? It's time to apologize," I state, taking joy in the tears beginning to gather in the corners of his eyes. They spilled over, mixing with the blood gushing from his nose and trickling into the snow.

I release his face and stand. He struggles to stand and gain his balance. I chuckle, one of my booted feet darting out and kicking him in his crotch. He sinks back to his knees in an ungraceful pile, hands moving to cup himself. "Did I say you could walk? No, I want you to fucking crawl on your hands and knees!" I snap.

He whimpers and begins to do as I say, slowly crawling over to where a shocked Konan waits, surrounded by an equally shocked Akatsuki. He makes it over to her and stops. "Now, I want you to bow down before her and kiss her feet- no, no, not her feet. You're not worth that. Kiss the ground. And then repeat after me- I am deeply sorry for my actions."

"I-I am deeply s-sorry for-"

I kick the back of his leg brutally. He almost crumbles from the force, arms and legs shaking too much for him to hold his own body weight up without struggling. How pathetic. "What the fuck did I say about stuttering?! Now, go on."

He's experiencing fear and humiliation at this point now, and clearly regretting his decision if the pained look on his face was anything to judge by. His gray bangs look like they've been dipped in blood, the tips of them soaked. Overall, all of his hair was knotted and sticking out erratically. "I am deeply sorry for my actions," he whispers. His voice is hoarse, much to my glee.

"I will never lay a single finger upon another woman or man with a harmful intention, rage induced or not," I say, choosing my words carefully so as to cause as much humiliation as I felt like inflicting. Which was quite a bit. I didn't really like him before, and I certainly hated him with every fiber of my being. Even just looking down at his quivering form filled me to the brim with fury.

"I will never lay a single finger upon another woman or man with a harmful intention, rage induced or not," he repeats. Exactly as I said it, too, which disappoints me a little bit because I wanted another reason to kick him. Being an insolent asshole who beat up on his girlfriend should be enough, but even I knew that if I hurt him too much I would have more difficulty weaseling my way out of trouble than was worth a few extra kicks.

"I humbly offer my servitude for the remainder of my life- should you deign me worthy to be in your superior presence, I shall be there for whatever reason you may need, be it mundane or of the utmost importance."

"I h-humbly-" - a kick to his leg, at which point he whimpers in pain - "offer my servitude for the remainder of my life- should you deign me worthy to be in your superior presence, I shall be there for whatever reason you may need, be it mundane or of the utmost importance."

"I will remember this lesson until the day I die. I am not worthy of you, nor will you be given the burden of enduring my presence unless the matter is out of my hand. This excludes any classes I have with you, which I will promptly switch out of once I'm done bleeding all over the fucking place like the pitiful little scum-of-the-earth cretin and bitch that I so obviously am." He's shaking even more, and his blood is garnering an impressive pool of bloody snow. I needed to finish this up.

"I will remember this lesson until the day I die. I am not worthy of you, nor will you be given the burden of enduring my presence unless the matter is out of my hand. This excludes any classes I have with you, which I will promptly switch out of once I'm done bleeding all over the fucking place like the pitiful little scum-of-the-earth cretin and bitch that I so obviously am-m."

I slam my foot down onto his back, being careful not to hit his spine. He's forced to the ground, his face in the snow. "Kami-dammit! I thought I told you to stop stuttering, you ungrateful little shit! I could very well do worse. Now get the fuck out of here before I prove those words- and if you squeal, you're a dead man walking!"

His friends rush over and pick him up, lifting his bloodstained body and carrying him to the school. I turn and watch them go. Blood droplets mar the snow and with a thoughtful frown (not that anyone could tell, honestly) I smudge the snow before me with my foot until it turns a pink-ish color. Then I turn to face the rest of the group. They're gaping at me. I raise an eyebrow even though they still couldn't see me.

"What? Oh, wait. Never seen me angry, heard me refer to myself in the first person or speak like I naturally would, right?" I roll my eyes, though I couldn't really fault them for being shocked. In their eyes I was Tobi the Good Boy, a bumbling idiot who spoke with an overtly exaggerated falsetto and always in the third person. Not some sadistic asshole who was perfectly fine using violence to get his point across.

"Whoa, Tobi, un..." Deidara trails off.

"I suppose I have some explaining to do, right? Well, let's start off by saying I am not bipolar or diagnosed with MPD, nor am I more mentally fucked up than the rest of you. I just haven't liked who I really am and therefore haven't shown it. Seeing the bruises on Konan-chan's arms snapped me out of it and now I am me," I explain, shrugging my shoulders. "I'll be taking questions now, assuming you have them."

Deidara's hand shoots straight up in the air and, upon my gesturing to him, he asks, "So is your name Tobi or not, hm?"

That's actually a pretty good question, I marvel, something I wouldn't really have expected Deidara to ask. "It isn't," I reply simply.

Kisame is next. "So what's your real name?"

My gaze flickers over to Itachi. I can almost see the little wheels whirring in his head, spinning round and round as he figured me out. Then I glance briefly at the rest of the members. Hidan, Kisame and Deidara all look expectant. Kakuzu looks mildly interested along with Sasori and Zetsu. And then there's Pein and Konan, the former's gaze affixed on her. And Konan is just looking at the bloody snow at her feet with her wide orange eyes, still running through the recent events. "Uchiha Madara."

Itachi's onyx gaze narrows in on my face, like he's intent on seeing through my mask. "So you're fuckin' related to weasel bitch over there, right, dumbass?" Hidan asks, violet eyes revealing his avid surprise.

"Uh-huh," I reply easily. Itachi has a self-satisfied look on his face, like he's got it all figured out. He probably does, what with how smart he was.

"Security guards are coming," Sasori warns, looking over my shoulder. I turn to face the direction he was looking. Sure enough, three security guards approached on foot, tasers and walkie talkies drawn before them. As if communicating via a walkie talkie would grant them instant protection against a group of high schoolers with issues and, for a majority of the members, problems controlling their violent tendencies. I smirk. This should be fun, ne?

~BELIEVE~

"You're telling me Sakon tripped and fell in the ice, consequently breaking his nose and gaining bruised ribs."

I'm currently sitting in the principal's office. The office space is cramped, hot despite the fan in the corner, and it smells heavily of sake. "Uh-huh!" I chirp. Tobi was back, just long enough to speed up the process of blatantly lying to the principal about how Sakon got injured and his blood got on both my boots and gloves.

Tsunade-sama, said principal, sighs and presses her hand to her temple. Her eyes are closed and she's obviously dealing with a migraine. "Okay. Tell me the story. Don't leave any parts out."

"Hai, Principal-sama!" I state, then begin in on my quickly fabricated story. "Well, Tobi saw weird bruises on Konan-chan's arm. They looked sort of like fingerprints. So Tobi, being a Very Good Boy, went to ask Konan-chan's boyfriend if he knew why Konan-chan's arm was bruised. Tobi tapped him on the shoulder and then Konan-chan's boyfriend turned around to see what Tobi wanted. He fell and hit the ground really hard. Then the snow got all red and pink-ish. Then Tobi got brought here with Tobi's friends to tell the principal about Konan-chan's boyfriend's accident!"

She raises an eyebrow. I'm all innocent looking, my head cocked to the side and finger at my chin. Or, rather, the part of the mask my chin was under. There's a moment's pause and then Tsunade-sama speaks. "Well, it was a tragic accident. And you certainly didn't intend for Sakon to get hurt like that, so I suppose you're free to go."

I stand from my seat. No point in questioning her judgement, so I wasn't going to ask her anything. "Haiiii, Tsuande-sama~ Bye-bye! Arigato!"

With that, I leave her office and exit out into the waiting room in the office. All of the Akatsuki is there, and they look up when I enter. "So?" Sasori asks.

"Tragic accident. We're free to go," I say, shrugging. They look relieved. Konan-chan is the first to stand, and she approaches me. She looks a bit uneven on her feet, tottering slightly.

"Thank you...Madara-kun," she whispers, stepping forward and hugging me. It's a bit awkward at first, but I raise my arms and hug her back. She's trembling lightly, shaken up by all that's happened. After a few moments, she pulls away. Her eyes are watery, filled to the brim with unshed tears. Poor Konan-chan, I muse. Been through so much.

But at least she wouldn't have to deal with that sniveling, stuttering son-of-a-bitch anymore.

~BELIEVE~

TA-DA.

Hope you guys liked it. Thank you for reading /^.\\\) Please comment and vote! 3 My apologies for any spelling errors.


	2. 2 - Nausea

Hey, Hi, Hello.

Welcome to chapter two of 'Believe In Me'. I hope you like it! This chapter's called Nausea. I tried to make it as long as the first chapter was but fell short about 100 words. Oh well! Song is 'The Day I Left The Womb' by Escape The Fate (when Ronnie was the singer)! This song relates well to the story, though some of it is in a more metaphorical way instead of literally.

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Naruto; that honor belongs to Kishimoto-sama! I also do not own the song or Ronnie Radke (but damn I want to)!  
**WARNINGS:** Cussing and a horrible mother.

**Anything in bold is important or with emphasis.  
****_This is what memories look like._****  
**_'This is what song lyrics look like.' _

~BELIEVE~

_'Brother, put your needles down. _  
_The best thing for you _  
_Is to leave this awful town. _  
_Pretty soon, you'll _  
_have kids to feed. _  
_If you see mother, _  
_tell her I can sing.'_

~BELIEVE~

Seeing Sakon's bruised face makes me smile.

He's at school again the Friday before school ended before break, and in none of Konan's classes. Nor is he anywhere to be found during lunch. Thankfully, however, he was stuck with three other members of our little group, the Akatsuki, in Chemistry class. And every time I look over at him I can't help but want to laugh. He had a weird looking patch of gauze over his nose, but you could still see how ridiculously swollen it was. So that was the focus of my interest.

The teacher informs us the lecture was over for the day and we could just sit around and talk. I take this opportunity to completely turn my chair sideways, to provide for an optimal view of him. Next to me, there's Kisame, Kakuzu and Itachi. I don't pay much more than halfhearted interest in their conversation, preferring to look at the glorious profile view of that stuttering son-of-a-bitch's misshapen nose. I'm having great fun doing so- until Kisame asks me a question.

"So, Madara, why do you wear the mask?" Kisame's leaning back in his chair, obviously highly curious.

I turn slightly in my chair to better look at him. "Because," I answer simply. "I don't like my face." From the corner of my eye, I can see Sakon looking at me warily. I lift a hand and wave at him, at which point he jerks in his seat and faces forward again.

"Well why do you dislike your face?" Kisame asks, again. I roll my eyes at this. Didn't he realize I didn't want to answer?

"I look like someone. Now do we have to continue talking about this?" I ask, feeling a little bit annoyed. Yeah, yeah, they were my friends and deserved an explanation. But I didn't want to give it now, especially because I was basking in the glory of observing Sakon's fucked-up face. Was it so bad that I wanted to? Maybe it should have been but damn I wasn't gonna stop.

"We deserve an explaination," Itachi deadpans. What, could he somehow read minds? Apparently so. I blink in slight surprise before answering.

"Ah, fine, since I know none of you will drop the subject. We can all gather at the café after school and I'll explain. Okay? Only one more class," I reply, trying to placate them. It seems to satisfy them, enough so that they left me alone about it.

~BELIEVE~

_** SHUT THE FUCK UP.**_

_** Those were the first words I heard as I woke up. The sounds of breaking glass and someone being shoved into a wall follow in rapid succession, and already I feel my chest tighten. So it was one of those days, I think, slipping out from under my bed covers and standing. At seven years old, I was pretty grown up. I slide slippers onto my feet and open my bedroom door, casting a glance to the bed my older brother used to sleep in. His name was Izuna and he moved out two years ago to live with our grandmother. I still really missed him, but I did get to talk to him on the phone and he sent cards during the holidays. I only had two brothers, both of them older than me.**_

_** Downstairs, my mother and oldest brother are fighting in the kitchen. Obito-nii was standing near the back door, an ice pack pressed to his face. It was swollen and bruised. My mother is standing across the room, a shard of a broken plate clutched in her hand. She's holding it threateningly, eyes ablaze with fury. A sinking feeling settles in the pit of my stomach, filling me with dread. This was not going to go well.**_

_** "Nii-san? Kaa-san?" I ask, feeling unsure of myself. My mother wheels around to face me, the broken plate still clutched in her hand. She's gripping it tightly enough that it cut into her palm, blood leaking from her fist and dripping down her arm and onto the floor.**_

_** "Here's your little bitch brother," she spits out, hand poised threateningly. She steps forward as Obito does, but she reaches me first and knots her free hand through my hair, yanking me up. "Stupid fucking brat, I should cut that pretty hair of yours off!"**_

_** My hair was something I loved about myself, and it fell in spiky, feathery waves to the nape of my neck. I can feel tears building up in my eyes. "Don't fucking touch him," Obito says, eyes full of hate. They seemed to almost glow red with it, emanating and staring accusingly at my mother. "Touch him and you'll regret it."**_

_** My mother chuckles. "And what's making me stop...?" The shard is pressed to my head, near my face. If her hand slipped just the right way it would cut my face instead of just my hair.**_

_** Obito's voice shakes. "If you don't hurt him, I'll leave."**_

_** Her hand freezes, her grip on my hair slackening. "Oh, really?" I'm sobbing freely now, praying to whatever was above that she would let go and my aniki would comfort me. "Fine. I accept your terms."**_

_** She lets go and my body crumples to the ground, legs collapsing beneath me. She backs off and Obito rushes forward, lifting me up in his arms and carrying me upstairs. I can barely see through my tears, and sobs wrench from my throat. Obito takes me to my room, sitting on my bed and holding me close to him. I press my face to his chest as he tells me, "Don't worry, otouto...I will come back."**_

~BELIEVE~

Too soon, though, and school ended. Kisame informs the group of the meeting and we all head to the café. Said café, Yondaime's, was run by the Namikaze-Uzumaki family and a common meeting place for us. We make it there quickly, and after greeting the woman at the counter (Kushina, one of the co-owners) we move to our regular spot at the back. After we settle into the big ring booth and Kushina-san drops off our normal starting orders (the best coffee and tea available) everyone looks at me expectantly.

I sigh softly and fold my hands together. "Well, seems I have some explaining to do."

Kakuzu snorts. "Yeah. You do."

I nod. "So...the mask. I wear it because I bear a striking similarity to someone. My older brother, Obito. I'm not comfortable speaking about it any further."

The table sits in silence for a moment, all processing what I've just told them. Then Hidan speaks up, grumbling, "Well I don't give a fuck what you fuckin' look like under that dumbass mask, Madara-bitch. You beat the fuck out of that retarded ass heathen fucker Sakon. That's fucking good enough for me."

I blink. "Maa, Hidan, your acceptance is alarming."

He rolls his eyes and mutters, "Shut the fuck up." I chuckle.

"What Hidan is trying to say," Kakuzu states, "is that whatever is under the mask doesn't affect what we think of you. You're still you, and a friend."

I'm serious as I say, "Thank you..." The table fades into silence again, this time contemplative. I glance over at Pein. He's looking at his hands, folded on the tabletop, deep in thought. My stomach tightens, refusing to settle and filling me with a queasiness. I absentmindedly press a hand to it. Pein, who was normally so kind to me, hadn't even looked at me, much less said anything since the incident earlier that week. I feel sick to my stomach now, and much less calm than I was before.

But I keep silent. Everyone else was taking this difference well, so why couldn't he? "So when did you start wearing the mask?" Sasori asks this question.

"When I was seven," I explain, and he accepts the answer with a nod. I look over at Itachi. He hasn't spoken, though I suspect it's because he plans to ambush me with questions later on, one-on-one. Everyone else is looking contemplative and I sigh heavily, putting my elbows on the table and leaning forward, resting my head on my folded hands. I was tired, confused and sick to my stomach.

"When's your birthday, un?" Deidara asks, and I frown a bit at his question.

"Christmas Eve, not that I celebrate it," I respond, shrugging my shoulders and looking down at my coffee. A mint leaf floated on the surface, swirling around. How peaceful, just like the rest of this place. Ample but not uncomfortable lighting, most of it natural and streaming in from the large storefront windows, the smell of all their teas blended together, pictures and paintings decorating the walls. Said walls were painted a deep blue, and the floor was white and black tile. Very home-y environment, one I enjoyed.

"Damn, right before Christmas?" Konan asks. "We're definitely celebrating it this year!"

"Ano, that's not necessary," I mumble, feeling a bit uncomfortable. Nobody was listening to me. I turn from the group and lift the edge of my mask up just enough to drink a mouthful of my mint coffee. Then I push the mask back in place, put my coffee on the table and settle back into my seat. Konan and Deidara are planning away, talking about all the stuff they're going to get. They rope in Zetsu and Sasori, letting them know that they would need their help in specific. Kakuzu, Kisame and Itachi are all discussing the project that we were assigned by our Chemistry teacher. Which leaves Pein and I.

Pein's moved on to staring down into his tea like it's the most interesting thing in the world. My stomach still hurts, the feeling only dulled by the warmth of the coffee I drank. I bite my lower lip nervously, wondering if I should say anything or just keep my mouth shut. With a sigh I decide 'fuck it' and I speak. "Ne, Pein-san, you okay?"

He blinks, looking at me with those gorgeous gray eyes of his. His head is propped up with his hand, his head titled to the side as he finally looked at me. Then he delivers the verdict, the answer to my question, solving (or rather just making my thoughts even more jumbled up) my confusion. "No," he responds shortly, voice cold and devoid of any potentially comforting emotion.

I nod and quickly come to the decision that I should have just shut up. The next thing I do is stand and head to the bathroom. Sasori calls out after me, asking, "Hey, Madara! Where are you going?"

"To throw up," I reply, reaching the door to the bathroom. It was the only one available, if you didn't count the one for the staff in the back. I push it open with one hand, the other rising to move my mask out of my face. The bile was already rising in my throat.

~BELIEVE~

Standing in the bathroom of a tea shop I religiously attended with my friends with a splitting headache, the lingering taste of vomit still in my mouth, the nauseousness usually accompanied by a second bout of puking and the aforementioned friends worried and waiting for me to reappear is not any sort of fun. Neither was peering at myself in the mirror, noting the ashen bags under my eyes and the shade of my skin, sickly and sallow. My face was sticky with sweat and my bangs, having fallen free from the bun my hair was normally kept in and covered by a beanie, cling to my damp skin. I hate being sick, I decide, staring myself down. My eyes are a little bit darker than I remember, glinting red when I tilted my head a certain way. Just like Obito. I look just like him, as he was cemented in my memories. I normally avoid looking at myself in the mirror, preferring to just not look at all because I was afraid of what I would see. But here I was, near-delirious and more than a little sick, staring at myself in the mirror. I touch my face, trailing a hand down my cheek.

I normally didn't get sick like this, so why now? Was my emotional distress really enough to cause physical sickness? Apparently so. I wish Pein-san would talk to me about this, though I might start getting even sicker because my heart was broken.

Damn, I am pathetic.

With this in mind, I wipe my face off with a paper towel from the dispenser by the door. I toss it in the trash, make a face at myself in the mirror, and put my mask back in place. Then, after tidying my hair as best I could, I march out of the bathroom feeling determined. That determination crumbles once I step out and see the detached and rather annoyed look Pein has on his face. Then I just want to run back into the bathroom and hide there forever. Or at least until Pein talked to me again and didn't hate me like he seemed to now.

My stomach turns. "Pein-san..." I shake my head. "I gotta go now, okay? See you later." I don't pause to see if he says anything, or if anyone else notices I'm leaving. I don't even turn back to grab my school bag or the rest of my coffee. I just leave, running away with my figurative tail between my legs.

~BELIEVE~

TA-DA.

Chapter two is done. I hope you enjoyed it. I feel like I am going too fast with certain parts, and not fast enough in others. Gomen T/-\T even so please review!


	3. 3 - Hellraiser

Welcome to chapter three. Partly in Kisame's POV. Not much of an author's note, sorry (because we're pretending like you all care) xD

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own anything except for a copy of Julius Caesar (read on to see why this has anything to do with anything in this story).  
**WARNINGS:** This chapter feels a bit...filler-y. But it isn't! At least, I don't think so! Cussing, courtesy of Madara-chan and Hidan!

~BELIEVE~

When I said I ran away, I meant it literally.

I ran four and a half miles, all the way to my house. My mother's car wasn't in the driveway, meaning she wasn't home. I was grateful for this- that meant she wouldn't be around to tell me how much she hated me. As I reach the porch, hobbling from the new blister on my ankle, I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket. I pause in my awkward hobble-walk, leaning against the porch pillar of my house. It was two stories tall with a chipped, black-painted wooden framework, a wrap-around porch and a distinctly decrepit look. And it sure as hell wasn't a home to anyone, not anywhere close.

Kisame was calling me. I feel my stomach bubbling again. I press 'talk' and hold the phone to my ear. "Madara-kun?" Kisame asks. "Where are you? Pein says you're still in the bathroom but won't let anyone in. And it's been a while, so...yeah."

"Just a second," I tell him, lifting the bottom of my mask up and throwing up into the grass, crouching as I did so. It was just liquid, no chunks involved, but it made me gag and dry heave even more. When I gain control of myself a few moments later I straighten and hold the phone back up to my ear, wiping my mouth with my sleeve. The mask covered the upper portion of my face, and I turned so my back was to the street and nobody could see my face. "I left about thirty minutes ago. I told Pein I was leaving."

"You did? So he's...okay. Well you left all your stuff here, so do you want us to drop off your stuff wherever you are?"

"Yeah, if you could. I'm at my house. The address is 210 Izanagi Circle. It's about five miles away from the cafe," I say, lungs still aching and my body burning. Kisame confirms the address and tells me that they would be by soon. I put my mask back in its proper place, turning and bending down to get the key under the doormat. It takes a little bit of wiggling, but after a second the key slides in easily into the lock, opening when I twisted it. I remove it and drop it back under the doormat, pushing the door open.

-KISAME'S POV :D -

I hang up the phone after telling Madara we'll be there soon. All of the Akatsuki is crowded around me, except for Pein, the lying bastard. I can only just stare at him and wonder why the fuck he lied, and why he was being so weird about this. I mean, yeah, it was pretty fuckin' strange that any of this has happened, but Madara was still someone whose been a member of the Akatsuki since we were all thirteen and therefore part of us, part of the group.

"Why?" I ask him, staring into his smoky eyes. They were grayish purple, almost appearing ringed if you looked the right way. Right now they're only emotionless, blank and void of emotion as they had remained since the day Madara beat the shit out of Sakon. "Why did you lie?"

Konan frowns at him. "He's left." Not a question, just a simple statement of fact. It was true, and something that was rapidly dawning upon the others. Konan's orange gaze is accusing, pinning all the guilt she could upon him. He doesn't flinch, doesn't show a single sign of guilt or remorse at her loaded words.

He shrugs his shoulders. "Yeah."

"Why did you lie?" Sasori asks. Pein only shrugs again, completely at ease. Too calm, too guilt-free. Because he should feel guilty. Madara clearly wasn't in the best state as of late, especially not in the sort of mental or physical state to sprint nearly five miles in thirty minutes on emotional and mental instability. Coincidentally, the ability to cover that sort of distance in that time requires the pure emotion and physical capability that one can obtain when in the aforementioned state, but what matters more right now is his lie.

"He left thirty minutes ago and ran to his house. **Five miles away**," I explain, feeling anger bubble up in my veins. I wasn't dumb or unobservant. Madara was obviously upset that Pein was being so stoic and such an ass to him. And what was going on in Pein's mind that made him act like and treat Madara as he was? Because before all this shit, when Tobi was around, he was always kind. Even bought the little brat candy and snacks often.

"He's been lying to us all this time," Pein mutters, settling back into his seat. He's holding his coffee in hand, recently getting a refill from Kushina-san. He takes a calm sip from it and lowers it from his face. "Doesn't that bother you?"

"Well, it does a bit, un, but Madara-kun is still an Akatsuki member, yeah! One of us, un!" Deidara explains, being honest. Pein's head cocks to the side, like he hadn't really considered that. His eyes narrow in thought, and he looks a bit unsure of himself.

"I didn't think of that," he admits, relinquishing his position. For now.

-BACK TO MADARA-CHAN!-

Twelve minutes pass and there is a knock on my door. This knock isn't unexpected, because I knew my friends were coming and because I heard the opening and closing of several car doors. I stand from my position on the couch, where I had been sitting in an effort to calm my still-churning stomach and catch my breath completely, and I walk down the hallway to the front door. I take short, careful steps. I open the door.

Before me stands the entire Akatsuki. Kisame is in the front, Itachi on his right and Hidan and Deidara to the left. Above Deidara's head Sasori is visible, just behind him Kakuzu. Konan is behind Itachi, peeking over his shoulder. And finally, bringing up the rear, Zetsu and Pein. Wordlessly, I step to the side and open the door further. Inviting them in.

They shuffle in, being quiet as they look around. Pein slides past me, the last person in, and I close the door behind him. Then I ask, "Do you plan on staying a while now that you're here?"

"Yeah," Zetsu answers, "If that's cool with your parents."

I feel my lips quirk into a bitter smile, and, not for the first time, I'm grateful they can't see me. "Maa, neither of them will be around for a few days. So you can stay for a while."

"Coolness," Kisame says, stepping into the living room. The rest of the group follows behind him, and when they're all in the living room I take that opportunity to excuse myself.

"I'll be right back," I promise, turning and jogging upstairs to my room. I needed to change clothes. It doesn't take me long, either- five minutes later and I'm wearing black sweatpants and a white long-sleeved t-shirt. And my mask, too. But that's an understood thing. When I come back down, I see something that hurts- the group has found one of the pictures on the fireplace mantle. A rare one, of my older brothers when they were kids. Before I came along and fucked everything up. Obito was nine and Izuna six. It was one of the only pictures of her kids that my mother liked, which was why it was out in the first place. Not that she would be around to see it much, because she was the personal assistant to some bigshot corporate asshole and most of her time was occupied by him. I was extremely grateful for the man, though I had never met him and probably never would.

"Damn," Hidan says, "you look fucking nothing like your dumbass heathen brother, Madara-bitch."

"That's probably because that's not me," I explain, leaning against the door frame. My arms are crossed across my chest and. "Those are my older brothers, Izuna and Obito."

"You have two brothers?" Sasori asks.

I nod. "Yes. Obito is oldest."

"Where are they then?" Pein asks. I visibly tense at his words, not replying for several long moments. The Akatsuki are all quiet as well, just staring at me. Pein's first non-hostile words to me since the incident at school, and they were asking about something I didn't want to talk about? What luck.

It's hard for me to speak. "Izuna moved in with my grandmother on my mother's side when I was five. Obito got kicked out two years later," I finally say, straghtening out. I walk calmly past the group, up to Zetsu, who is holding the picture. I wordlessly take it from him and put it face down on the mantle before stepping away. My stomach is knotted and my heart heavy. Silence reigns for a few more moments before Konan speaks.

"Well, who wants to watch a movie?" Konan suggests, plastering on a semi-awkward smile. After a few halfhearted sounds of agreement she cheers, asking me, "Hey, Madara-kun, where are your movies?"

I frown slightly in thought. "Uh...?" I trail off, shrugging my shoulders. I doubted I really had any. I hadn't watched a movie in a long time, either, except for those educational videos in school. And I doubted they really counted. "Maybe in one of the rooms? I'll go look. You guys can look for snacks or whatever in the kitchen."

"I'll help," Pein states. I cringe internally, only nodding and turning to go upstairs. He follows behind me wordlessly, and the first room I lead him to is mine. I know there aren't any movies in there, but I really wanted to put off ever going into Obito's or even Izuna's rooms. Or even thinking about them, for that matter.

I go first to my bookshelf, Pein drifting over to the little desk in the corner. His fingertips drift over the surface, examining it carefully. All that sit on its surface are an old, worn book, a brush and a little mirror. He picks the book up, reading the title. "Julius Caesar?" He asks, glancing over at me.

"Izuna's," I explain, carefully watching for his reaction. He nods, trailing a finger over the spine of it. Then he sets it down. I turn to examine my bookshelf, already knowing all that I would find. Copies of some of Izuna's favorite books or plays- Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Dante's Inferno. Pein has moved on to looking at the brush. I don't get what's so fascinating about it, because it's just a normal brush, but he seems interested in it. I watch him closely, noting the slightly confused expression on his face. He turns to me, raising it in his hand.

"You have long hair?" He asks.

"Yes," I murmur, keeping my gaze trained upon him. He looks from me to the brush, then back to me.

"May I...?" His voice trails off. So he wanted to see my hair?

"...I suppose..." I reply, my hands raising up to my head. His eyes are glued to me as I remove the beanie and tug the ponytail from my hair. It falls over my shoulders, an Uchiha black. Uchihas happened to have distinctive hair, thank you very much. And he gapes at it. Now, I knew it was bad - I had split ends galore and it was in dire need of a cut - but surely it wasn't that bad, right?

His fingers twitch, almost making me think that he wants to touch my hair. After a few moments of silence he finally says, "Your hair..." His voice is quiet and his eyes trained upon my hair. The silence between us felt awkward.

I decide that I am tired of this tiptoeing around. "Don't think you have to talk to me or forgive me for whatever the hell I've apparently done to you because the others told you that's what you should do. I don't want you to force out some bullshit apology and reasoning for your behavior, because we both know it would mean absolutely fucking nothing and only serve to make things worse."

He frowns, opening his mouth. "What do you-"

"And let's stop with the twenty fucking questions. I sure as fuck don't owe you any more answers," I continue, completely dismissing him as I tied my hair back up and put the beanie back on. I walk quickly from my room, going across the hall to the one Obito used to occupy. Within his room, I actually find a movie- 'Hellraiser'. One of his favorites, and I was a little bit surprised he left it behind and I hadn't found it earlier during my brief searches of his room (AN: and a bit too coincidental in terms of plot convenience :P ).

Pein follows me downstairs, clearly deep in thought. We arrive in the living room to find the rest of the Akatsuki waiting patiently. They turn to look as we appear. I smirk bitterly beneath my mask, lifting up the movie for all to see. "This is all I found," I explain.

"I fucking love that damn movie!" Hidan shouts, grinning brightly. I toss it at him and he catches it just in time, it almost hitting his face. He looks down at the case with a wolfish grin. He was clearly excited. The rest of the group didn't seem quite as excited, but they all agree upon it after a few moments of debate.

"That's good, I guess," I reply. I flop down on a spot on the floor, seeing as there were no other seats available. It's not exactly comfortable, but oh well. I reach out to the coffee table, where all the junk food that was in my house sat. There wasn't a lot, a bowl of popcorn and a case of soda sitting out, but it was better than nothing. Hidan puts the movie in as Zetsu turns the lights out. I settle back against the legs of Konan as the commercials before the movie menu came up begin.

~BELIEVE~

The end :D

Maa, sorry about how long it took. Tons of homework T/-\T anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know what you think of it 3


	4. 4 - A Very Bad Day

4 - A Very Bad Day

WELCOME :D

**DISCLAIMER:** Noooo, still don't own anything.  
**WARNINGS:** Cussing, a bit of blood and mild head trauma (:

~BELIEVE~

"So, would you two like to explain to me why you were creeping around my house at nine in the morning?"

My tone is conversational but my stance is far from it. I am standing before them, arms crossed over my chest. The people in question are sitting on the couch a mere few feet away, a lone coffee table between us. I am not happy, that much they can probably tell from my posture. Virtually all of my skin is covered. I've got my mask on as well as long pajama pants and a black robe with sleeves that hung past my fingertips, and my hair was covered by a hat.

"We want to know why you're in here, cause this house sure as hell isn't yours, punk," one of them hisses. His eyes are a dark black, not entirely dissimilar to my own, and his shaggy black hair concealed only a small portion of the scar that ran vertically over one of his eyes. Yeah, it was him. Obito-nii, not that I felt as if he had been much of one for the past eleven years.

"Stop being rude, Obito-nii!" Izuna says. He's much more mature looking than I remember him, not like how Obito was still extremely recognizable. His eyes were a lighter charcoal, his hair longer and features finer. Almost like a doll. "Now, I'm sorry, sir. But we were sort of under the impression our brother lived here. Still do, if the pictures are much to judge by."

I raise an eyebrow. "I live here with one other. For over a decade. Consider me a... family friend, I suppose you could say."

Obito snorts derisively. "'Family friend'? Please. I swear to Kami, you'd better not be fucking him or else I'll cut off your damn-"

He stops short at the sound of my laughter, sputtering indignantly. I'm too busy laughing my ass off to care, doubled over and gripping at my sides. After a few moments I manage to contain myself, for the most part. Still holding my stomach and giggling lightly, I tell them, "No, no, don't worry! I wouldn't. Don't even know how that would work..." Cue more laughter. Me, fucking myself?

Obito does more indignant sputtering. "I'll have you know, my precious otouto is very attractive, you little-"

I sober up immediately. "Oh, you think you would know? How would this be? You haven't seen him in eleven years, have you? And you thought you could just waltz back in and claim him as your precious, attractive little otouto. Listen- you can see him sometime, assuming he stays long enough."

"Why?!" Izuna asks. "Where has he gone?"

I shrug. "Oh, he wavers in and out...in a more metaphorical sense, I suppose." His question has been ignored deftly.

"Answer us! Where is he?!" Obito is making this demand.

I chuckle darkly. "Out of his mind. Now, if you could clear out..." My tone has lightened. "I have people coming over and I would rather you two not be here."

"No," Obito replies curtly. "Give us a name, at least. Your name. Since you're a 'family friend' and all."

I tap my mask at my chin twice with my pointer finger. "Perhaps family friend wasn't quite the right word? Maybe both family and not-friend? Whatever. It's Tobi." This first part was mumbled to myself, not entirely intended for them to hear.

But my mumble wasn't low enough. "What is that supposed to mean?" Izuna asks. "That's not even possible, unless you're like, bipolar or something."

"Why does everyone seem to jump to that conclusion?" I mutter. I'm getting pretty annoyed now, and I can feel myself tensing. "You completely change and beat someone up for hitting his girlfriend when people aren't expecting you to even notice anything and suddenly you're being presumed crazy. Listen, I'm not insane. Well, okay, maybe a little bit, but I don't need you to point that out!"

Izuna's eyes are narrowed, like he's thinking something over, and Obito's looking between us. I sigh heavily. Great, maybe I give too much away when I talk. Okay, I definitely do. But that's besides the fucking point. Izuna's jaw is slowly loosening, beginning to hang open like he's putting the pieces together.

"Kami-dammit, you've always been good at figuring shit out. Stop it!" I command him, arms hanging tensely at my sides.

"Or maybe you've always been easier for me to read in particular," he mutters. "Tell me, Tobi, why do you wear that ridiculous mask? Is it cause you look like someone you want to forget? And your hair is tied back. Is that because you don't want to see that either, but you can't bear to cut it because you've been determined to grow it out since age five?"

"Oh, don't even fucking flatter yourself," I hiss, fists clenched. "You're not that smart, bitch. I was four when I made that damned decision!"

I wish instantly that I could take those stupid words back. Now there's no hiding it. They know. They know. They know and I am kicking myself for what I did. Oh, dammit above, that was fucking stupid. "Fuuuucccckkkk," I groan. "Okay. Fine. I am Madara and yes, I have only recently become myself again because since after the age of about seven and a half I've worn this mask, pulled my hair up like this and completely shut down 'Madara' and had an entire personality named Tobi, which I only snapped out of about two weeks ago because I beat the fuck out of some poor bastard because he hit his girlfriend, one of my friends, and he wouldn't stop his damned stuttering. Kami. Are you fucking happy with yourselves? The overdue welfare check is done, get the hell out. Now!"

Izuna stands and I immediately back away. I focus on his face. From the corner of my eyes I see Obito stand. Within the space of seconds Obito is vaulting over the coffee table, reaching to tear my mask off. I duck out of his reach, raising my arm to block Izuna's hands. Obito keeps his momentum, fluidly changing paths to duck underneath my raised arm in order to get behind me. I lift my knee smoothly and it connects with his stomach. I further the move by hitting him in the jaw, too. I push backwards on Izuna's grip and kick Obito in the stomach as he recovers.

I back myself away from them and towards the doorway. It's almost time for my friends to arrive so I hope to Kami or whoever is listening that I can get them out before they arrive. That will be hard, though.

Obito is before me, behind him Izuna. "Just take off the mask, otouto," he says, tone warning. I scoff.

"You'd have to make me," I reply. Which I hope it doesn't come to. I consider myself a highly proficient fighter, yes, but versus these two, who were also proficient in terms of fighting hand-to-hand, I stood less of a chance. Especially in this ridiculous robe.

Obito surges forward. I narrowly miss the punch he aims to my face, definitely not completely evading Izuna's grab for my mask. His fingers brush the side of it, momentarily curling around the edge to pull it off. I push his hand away, duck under Obito's arm and begin inching myself out of the corner I was in. If they both tackled me they could pin me down long enough to get the mask off...

And damn, it's like they're reading my fucking mind. Why did I even think that? Izuna grabs my legs, as Obito reaches for my face, effectively knocking me down. My head hits the doorway and I'm soon cradling the back of it with one hand, feeling blood well up to the surface and begin to mat down my hair. My head really, really hurts. And, of course, they take this opportunity to pull my mask off.

As I fell I bit my lip so hard that it started to bleed. Blood now trickles down my face, my lip painted red. My other hand is clenching and unclenching, my head hanging down. I absentmindedly free my hair from my hat, so the blood didn't get into the fabric too much. Then I say one sentence to my brothers.

"That really wasn't necessary."

I look up at them from beneath my fringe. Their eyes are wide at the sight of my blood, looking like they've only now realized what they've done. How far past the walls they've invaded. Obito looks down at the mask in his hands, then with a determined look on his face he lets the mask fall to the floor, lifting his booted foot and crushing it. "No more," he tells me, eyes trained on me. "You're not hiding anymore."

"I wore the mask for a reason," I tell them, feeling an acidic anger bubble up in my chest. "Because I wanted to! Because it kept me safe and sound! What the hell do you think you're doing? What makes you think you have any sort of right to barge back into MY life, taking MY things and breaking them like you have any sort of right to do so? Well, Obito, Izuna, let me tell you- the ONLY right either of you have is your fucking **SELF-ENTITLEMENT**! And as soon as you came here it became fucking invalid! Do you get that?! Do you** UNDERSTAND** what you've done to ME?!"

My voice fades out and I feel the hysterical need to cry. That mask represented a wall between myself and the outside world, one happily self-imposed that was supposed to stay that way until I decided to remove it, on my own. This hysteria rises, nearly taking hold of me. I am pretty sure I'm having a panic attack now, my breath coming in short, rapid intakes and exhales. I'm suddenly so scared by the outside world, a part of me absolutely terrified by the thought of my friends coming to see me, arriving any moment now. Hopefully something happened to put off them seeing me until I could deal with my current issues, like all of their cars getting flat tires simultaneously. That wasn't as far out of the realm of possibility as it may have seemed- only Kisame, Kakuzu, Pein and Itachi had vehicles of their own and the chances of them getting another ride not as high.

Too fucking bad for me though; I am never lucky enough for coincidences like that. Probably why they were ringing the doorbell now. I'm still cradling my head and clenching my fist, pain radiating through my head, down my neck and sending little spikes of hurt through essentially all of my body. The blood was still trickling- well, a bit more than a trickle- down my neck, wetting the back of my shirt and robe. It was warm and making me uncomfortable but it was hard to focus on much else but controlling my breathing and trying to force my irrational fear dissipate. Not easy with searing pain in my head and neck but I was doing as well as I could.

Clearly I would not be moving from my position on the floor any time soon, so Izuna goes to answer the door. I've maneuvered myself to a position where my hair hung in my face a little bit better. It worked pretty well, hanging down to my shoulder blades. I did cut it a little bit, only enough to keep it at a relatively reasonable length. My friends shuffle in after Izuna briefly explains his presence. I can tell when their eyes land upon me, curled in myself and the back of my head, neck, and most of my hand covered in blood.

"M-Madara, yeah?" Deidara asks. I can picture the look on his face easily enough- eyeliner ringed blue eyes wide and the little Chapstick-ed mouth in an unintentionally perfect 'o' shape. Typical little blondie.

"Hey," I reply shortly, my voice muffled by the way I'm holding my head. "Give me a moment. My head really fucking hurts. Oh, hey, now that I think of it, Sasori, if you could..." I trail off. My breath still wasn't coming normally so I didn't want to talk. Sasori, creepy as he was, knew a considerably large amount about the medical field, specifically related to the human body.

"Sure," he mumbles, dopey voice holding uncharacteristic surprise. He steps forward and kneels behind me, delicate fingers brushing my hand aside and probing gently at the wound. He's quiet for a moment, just feeling around the wound to see the damage's extent. "You're actually kind of lucky. You hit it with such force that it did damage, yes, but it could've been a lot fucking worse if it hit higher. I recommend patching it up after heavy disinfecting, taking some pain reliever and going to the ER if the pain remains or intensifies within the next day or so, or if you get a fever and start throwing up. If you make it about a week with no problems you'll probably be fine." Then he withdraws and steps back a bit.

"Thanks man," I mumble in reply. "Obito, be semi-decent and help me up instead of standing there, would you?"

My friends only seem to notice him once I say his name. There's murmurs behind me, and I hear Kisame whisper to Itachi something about how I must look if I were as similar to him as I told them. Obito steps forward and helps me up, making sure to support me when I swayed slightly on my feet. Still facing him, I take as deep a breath as I could before teetering around to face them.

I was right about the look on Deidara's face. They're all completely silent, staring at me in shock. Obito leads me forward. "Need to go clean the blood up and disinfect you, otouto," He explains to me weakly, his voice sounding hoarse. I blink twice at him before nodding. He helps me to the bathroom, where he sits me down on the toilet. Then he begins bustling about, withdrawing a rag, gauze pads and antiseptic medicines I wasn't even aware we still had in the house. He wets the rag in the sink with warm water and uses it to dab away at the blood. It hurts a lot and sends even more pain radiating down my spine. Then he's pouring Peroxide on it.

"Fuck!" I snap. "Maybe a warning?" I fucking hate Peroxide. Burns like hell.

"If I told you I was doing it then you wouldn't have let me," he explains to me. "I remember from when you were a kid." He adds a little more Peroxide, to make sure it was cleaned, then he begins smothering on antiseptic cream. I wince, though his fingers are gentle. It still stung, and my skin was definitely tender.

I remain silent through the rest of the process. He finishes patching my head up with gauze pads and securing them somewhat messily with Band-aids. Then he forces my head into a tilt and begins the same pattern. Cleaning blood from my face methodically with the rag, dabbing at it with Peroxide - I scowl at him though I knew it was coming this time - and then the antiseptic cream. He leaves it unbandaged, having nothing small enough to work. Then he releases his grip on my chin to keep my head angled correctly. Then, as I begin to stand, he tells me- "Sit."

Oddly enough I find myself obeying his words. I sit back down. He digs a brush and a ponytail out from the cabinet and begins brushing my hair. Like he did when I was a kid. He is gentle, pulling softly through the tangles and being extra careful around the back. Then, once he's done, he pulls it up into a high ponytail. A few pieces fall and frame my face.

Obito puts away the brush and lets me stand, stepping back against the wall. I look at myself in the mirror, examining myself. I see him smile softly at me, a bitter sort of smile that makes an ache in my heart. I don't smile back. My lips stay frozen in place but he still smiles. He doesn't seem to care that I'm angry right now. I look back to myself. My nose is straight, almost perfectly so, my jaw a little rounded on the edges and my eyes almost cat-like. I looked so much like him, it was almost... scary. But he did have a scar over an eye.

Well, little reason beyond my irrational fear to leave, right? I'm trying to convince myself this, anyway.

~BELIEVE~

Aaaaand end chapter. Sorry about the wait but school since Christmas has been especially hard. Thankfully it is almost over, yeah? (; meaning more updates. Anyway, please enjoy this dears 3


	5. 5 - Birthdays and Cult Horror Classics

hey :D

Please enjoy this chapter. Apologies for the wait.

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Naruto or any of the movies mentioned.  
**WARNINGS:** Cussing. Some fluff-ish stuff.

~BELIEVE~

I curl my hand into a fist. There was honestly no point in waiting in the bathroom any longer, was there? They saw my face. The mask was broken. Once again I feel an irrational fear clawing at my stomach. Panic. Nervousness. Nausea. I was going to throw up, I was sure. From my head or my panic, I don't know and neither do I care.

"Obito... I don't think I can do this..." My voice trails off.

"What happened to the brave little otouto who at six decided he was going to be a rock star?" His voice is soft and understanding of my nervousness.

I feel a few tears prick at the corners of my eyes. "He grew up." We fall into silence again, for a few moments. Then I straighten up and turn to the door. I grasp the metal handle, my palm slick with sweat, before turning it and pushing. It opened easily. I hesitate before stepping out into the hall.

After the first step out I can see the living room entryway, the sounds of Izuna telling my friends about something I did as a three year old reaching my ears. I knew if I rounded the corner and looked to the left edge of the aforementioned entryway I would see blood staining the white painted wood. My feet are rooted to the spot, Obito tapping my shoulder. Upon my lack of response he sighs heavily and begins prying my fingers from where they gripped the door. "They're not going away, otouto," he mumbles, "best to just get it over with."

He was, to my dismay, right. My fingers are pulled away successfully. My scowl deepens when he grabs me by the shoulders and he begins pushing me forward, guiding me to the right. I take small steps just to irritate him. The entryway grows nearer, the story and chuckles distinct. Konan's giggle was light, almost angelic (as was she), Kakuzu's laughter deep along with Kisame's. We reach the edge and Obito turns me left, pushing me forward and into the living room. Conversation ceases and everyone's eyes are on me. I swallow heavily.

"Yes, yes, bask in his glory," Obito says, an attempt to lighten the atmosphere. It does, Hidan snickering obnoxiously (not even a little bit surprising), but I keep my eyes downward. Several plastic bags, as well as gift bags, decorate the living room. Konan and Deidara's doing, clearly. For my birthday. I keep my head down, gaze to the ground, stepping forward until I'm at the other end of the room. Before the fireplace sits Kisame and Itachi. I sit next to Itachi, criss-cross, and keep my eyes on my legs.

A few moments of awkward, tense silence pass. "Well," Konan says, clearing her throat, "let's open your birthday presents, okay?"

I nod. "Okay." I look up slightly. Konan and Deidara gather gift bags from all around the room and set them before me, in a neat line. Obito slips out quietly, likely heading out to the car for something. I take the first present, a plain black bag with a few pieces of tissue paper sticking out.

"That's mine, Madara-bitch," Hidan declares. My gaze flickers over to him. He's grinning brightly. I look down into the bag, removing the tissue paper. Inside, the bag has three CD cases. I take the first one out. It was obviously of the homemade sort. Its label, written in Hidan's scrawl, reads the words 'Beware! Children At Play'. I give Hidan a questioning look before setting it to the side and taking out the other two, similar but with different titles. 'Zombie (1979)'. 'Dead Alive'. Obito has returned, quietly slipping back inside the room.

I look to him. "Um, what?"

He chuckles. "Cult horror fuckin' classics. Considered some of the bloodiest damn films of all fuckin' time. They're fuckin' awesome but a bitch to find with my sorta damn budget, that's why they've been burned on to CDs."

I smile. "Thanks. I like horror movies." I set them carefully aside and drag the next present forth. It's simply wrapped, making a little bit of noise when shook. The wrapping paper is red.

"Don't shake it so much," Sasori murmurs. I take that as him telling me that it was from him. I unwrap it, taking care to make sure I did so properly. After it's free of wrapping paper I open the box. And within it was... a puppet. Of me.

"Did you make this yourself?" I ask him, letting my fingers trail over the smooth wood. I look to him. He nods. I smile warmly, my chest further flooding with happiness and warmth. "Thank you."

That is set gently to the side and I proceed with my presents. I get a thick book on the history of masks from Itachi, a joint present from Kisame and Kakuzu, that being a gift card for $100 for the local music store (Kisame informing me that I seemed the sort that loved music), a clay bird and bright blue knit cap from Deidara, an explanation from Zetsu that his present would be here tomorrow, and from Konan a bottle of nail polish the color of blood, another a similar blue to the knit cap from Deidara, and finally a pair of rainbow knee-high socks.

Pein watches me as I open his. It's a simple black picture frame. I look at him questioningly. "You'll figure it out later," he murmurs. I have no choice but to accept his answer.

Obito steps forth and drops a small, plastic bag onto my lap. "Happy Birthday, from the two of us." Inside of the little plastic bag is a piercing. I look up at him, about to inform him that I had no piercings nor the money to get any, when he calmly answers my confusion. "We're paying for you to get a piercing, of your choice. That particular one is intended for eyebrows, but you don't need to limit yourself."

My eyes widen. "That... is cool."

~BELIEVE~

Fifteen minutes later finds us driving to the only tattoo and piercing parlor in a twenty mile radius. All of the rest of the Akatsuki brats are following in separate cars. I am stuck with Obito and Izuna. They are silent enough, getting the point there was no point to start a worthwhile conversation if it would be interrupted moments later. Yeah, pointless. We make it to the tattoo parlor, named 'Disintegration'.

It looks clean and is well-kept, the walls covered with art. Albums thick with pictures of piercings and tattoos sat at a waiting table. Eight chairs lined the walls near it, forming an 'L' shape. A man with long brown hair stood at the counter, absentmindedly typing something on the computer set up at there. A blonde woman waited patiently in one of the chairs. Music played lowly from somewhere in the back, the sound of a tattoo gun mixing in with it. It smelled like antiseptic and cinnamon.

Upon the sound of our entrance the man looks up. He smiles at Obito and Izuna. "Yo, Obito and Izuna! This the littlest brother?"

"Hashirama," Obito says, "Yeah, this is Madara. Otouto, this is one of Izuna and I's friends, Hashirama. He's around your age."

"About a year older, actually. Anyway, nice to meet you. These all your friends?" He seems like a really nice person. He's wearing a dark red shirt with black jeans. His right arm is covered with tattoos, the left all the way down to his elbow. As he moves I can see the glint of piercings in his ear.

I turn back to them and indicate them as I say their names. "That's Konan, Pein, Zetsu, Kisame, Itachi, Kakuzu, Hidan, Sasori, and Deidara."

Hashirama smiles. "Well met. Anyway, you three, if you could follow me..."

~BELIEVE~

Getting an eyebrow piercing didn't hurt.

It was easy enough. They had everything prepared before they began, my piercing was black and I very nearly accepted another facial piercing. In the end I managed to restrain myself, though. Hashirama explained everything perfectly to me so I knew how to take care of my new piercing. But Hashirama, for all his kindness, was really fucking weird. As Obito and Izuna paid for my piercing once all was said and done, he gave me some strange, knowing smile and said, "See you later, Madara-san."

All of my friends thought the piercing was good on me. That made me a little bit better feeling about this. But my head hurt like hell and Obito was way too happy right now for me to not have an at least slightly dampened mood. And plus we got to go to the cafe before returning back to my home, where food and fun times were supposed to await me for my eighteenth birthday celebration.

We all crowd into a single booth. I'm in between Pein and Izuna. They all ask about my piercing, if it hurt and what I thought of it. I answered honestly, that it stung a little bit but that was it and yes, I liked it though it would take some getting used to. And then the bell attached to the door leading into the cafe rang and with one brief glance over my entire train of thought is completely derailed.

Sakon.

I catch his eye and wink at him, jerking my fingers towards him in what could be interpreted as a wave. He pales immediately and shrinks into himself, making sure not to so much as look over near our corner of the cafe. I watch him for a few moments more before downing the rest of my milkshake. Sasori said I should take in more sugar. It was frothy and perfectly chocolate-y.

We go back to my house. Deidara and Konan immediately take over, commanding the rest of us. I was told to go upstairs and stay there until someone came up to get me. I go and lay on my bed. It's at least an hour before there's a soft knock on my door.

"Yeah?" I ask. The door opens and Pein steps through. He closes the door quietly behind himself and doesn't say anything, just comes and sits down at the edge of my bed. I sit up and watch him carefully. He was really gorgeous. I always liked him in a slightly different way than I liked the rest of our group. He gave me a warm feeling in my stomach whenever I saw him. I knew well enough to know I liked him a lot. Not love, not in the romantic sense. Not yet anyway.

Fluffy, silky strands of orange hair fell about his face, natural streaks of red mixed in throughout. His eyes were gray with soft, charcoal colored rings. He had a lot of piercings, given to him by his older brother Yahiko. I'd seen him a handful of times without them in, when the group went swimming at Kisame's house. He always took them off so he didn't lose them. His skin was left a little bit scarred, but for the most part they were fine.

We sit in simple, comfortable silence. He stares down at his hands, folded in his lap, and I stare at him. He was always so kind to me. I remember once, about two years ago, when it was over spring break. He'd gone to get pizza for all of us, and almost immediately upon getting my share (three pieces of the best pizza ever made) I dropped it straight onto the floor. He drove fifteen minutes away (thirty minutes there and back), back to the pizza place, and got me an entire pizza, all for myself. When he got back he just gave the pizza box to me and smiled softly when I said thank you.

There's also the fact that he always bought me candy whenever I was around him. I questioned it at first, because he didn't do that for anyone else. But I chalked it up to me reminding him of his brother, off at college, and left it at that, doing my damndest to ignore the little bits of hope that would spring up.

He checks his cellphone for the time. He puts his phone back in his pocket. We sit. I begin counting the number of breaths he took. I've only been counting for a few minutes before there's another knock on my door and a head full of green hair pops through the door way. Zetsu. "It's all finished," he murmurs. I nod and stand up, Pein following. We file downstairs in a quiet line. I was led to the kitchen, where the rest of the Akatsuki sat waiting for my arrival.

The room is decked out in red, black and white decorations, balloons and crepe paper decking the walls and ceilings. The kitchen table had been expanded and a white plastic table cloth with the words 'Happy Birthday!' emblazoned in red with little balloons and bits of confetti filling the white space. Bowls of chips and boxes of pizza (from the greatest pizza place ever, mentioned before) sat in the middle, in between black plates and red napkins, and red Solo cups and four different kinds of soda liters. A small paper party hat sat on the table space in front of what was evidently my seat, on the far left side of the table. And there were several mismatched chairs all crammed in so there was enough seats for everyone.

Everyone was evidently waiting for me to arrive. Upon seeing me they all shout, "Happy birthday!" I smile, a few tears coming to my eyes. They cared this much? I laugh happily and am ushered to my seat, both brothers to my left and Pein to my right. Konan doesn't sit, instead going to the doorway to flip off the light switch. The room darkens considerably and she moves to light the candles on my cake, which was sitting away on the farthest counter. It's lit and she carries it back over to me, setting it before me. It's got mainly white frosting, decorated with accents of red and black frosting and sprinkled. Piped on the top, below the candles '1' and '8', it reads, 'Happy Birthday Madara'. I feel warmth well up in my chest.

They sing Happy Birthday to me. I smile softly down at the cake, the wax trails streaking down the candles, the miniature flames and the orange glow they cast. I glance at each and every member as they sing, including my older brothers. I stop on Pein's face, letting my gaze rest there until the end of the song. Then I turn back to the cake.

"Make a wish!" Deidara exclaims excitedly, my gaze traveling briefly to his face. I look down at the candles again, considering for a moment what I wanted. Did I want Pein to at least like me in the way I liked him? Did I want a better relationship with my brothers? Did I want to achieve rockstardom, like Obito mentioned I did so long ago? I didn't know, and maybe I never would know what I truly wanted. But I had an idea right now.


	6. 6 - Christmas Pictures

Hello ^^

Here is chapter six. I'll upload chapter seven either in a few hours or sometime tomorrow. Either way, please enjoy this chapter. Thanks to Laine (Lainjukinjs) for beta-ing!

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Naruto or any of the movies mentioned.  
**WARNINGS:** Yaoi fluff :D

~BELIEVE~

At exactly noon the next day, the rest of the Akatsuki was at my door. I let them in and we all settle in the living room. They are all brandishing several bags or wrapped boxes, Kisame, Pein, Konan and Kakuzu carrying more than anyone else.

We all sit on the floor, in a giant circle. Itachi sat to my left, Kisame to his, followed by Sasori, Deidara, Kakuzu, Hidan, Zetsu, and Konan. Pein was to my right, on the other side of Konan. I had all of my gifts for them stacked up neatly behind me. There was Sasori's gift card to the high quality art store in the next town over, Itachi's book on the complete history of ninjas, Konan's present from the rest of us (a sexy dress, perfect for her), the gardening pots I hand painted for Zetsu, the ever-elusive box set of Mortal Kombat for Kisame, a new PS3 controller for Hidan (because he broke his last one), a pendant in the symbol of yen for Kakuzu, a gift card for Deidara to Sephora, and finally Pein's, easily the most expensive thing I'd ever gotten. But I figured furnishing me with as much money as necessary to purchase all of this for my friends was the least my mother could do for all the hell she'd put me through.

"Well," Konan begins, "let's start with...Hidan? You exchange gifts with Kakuzu."

He rolls his eyes. "Bastard. Here." He shoves a small, poorly wrapped box at Kakuzu. Kakuzu accepts it, setting it gently into his lap. Then he removes the biggest present from his pile and scoots it toward Hidan. It was perfectly wrapped and made noise when moved.

Kakuzu opens his first. Inside, there rests a small notebook with elaborate symbols decorating the cover. From where I was sitting, I could see symbols like celtic knots, triskeles, even an eye of Ra. They blended together perfectly. "To fuckin' keep track of your damn money," Hidan grumbles. "I ruined your last damn one, right? Well, I'm fuckin' sorry..." He trails off and snatches his present.

He unwraps it quickly but carefully and efficiently. Inside is an ornate censer, black with white and blood-red swirling detail. Hidan's jaw drops open, as well as the jaws of everyone else in the room. Kakuzu grumbles at his reaction. "You've been bitching about needing another. So I got it for you, so you'd shut the fuck up..." he trails off upon seeing Hidan's expression. "Aw, fuck, you don't need to cry-"

Hidan tackles him and yanks his mask down, pressing a rough kiss to Kakuzu's lips. After a few silent moments he withdraws and settles back into his seat. Kakuzu rises, a blush settled over his face. He leaves his mask down, loops one arm around Hidan's waist to draw them closer, and keeps his arm there.

A blush has risen to my face, making it warmer than I would like. "Well, um, Sasori and Deidara, wanna go next?" Konan asks, her tone a bit awkward at the beginning of the sentence but smoothing out at the end.

Deidara gives Sasori a miniature bag and a nicely wrapped box. Sasori hands over two boxes as well, one much smaller than the other. They share a glance before opening them at the same time. Sasori gets a book on the entire history of puppetmaking, as well as a block of what looked like mahogany wood and a pack of firecrackers. Deidara gets his favorite kind of clay, the really high quality kind, and a miniature bird puppet whose detailed wings could be moved.

Deidara blushes and Sasori smiles softly. Deidara leans over and kisses his cheek briefly. Sasori blushes a deep red color. "Thanks, Danna~" Deidara tells him. Sasori nods, still flushed a deeper red than his hair.

Konan smiles at them and laughs. "Alright, I can't wait~ Here, everyone, my presents to you!" She begins passing around neatly wrapped boxes, identical in size and shape, with cute little labels with everyone's names written it.

We all get ours and only then are we allowed to open them. I unwrap mine, open the box, and out comes a hoodie. It was handsewn, made out of a soft black fabric with little red clouds stitched neatly on. The inside was lined with red and the zipper was black. I look up. Everyone else got the same thing, just made various sizes to fit them. "Konan-chan," Kisame asks, "How did you make these?"

"Well, I 'borrowed' a hoodie from each of you over the summer, got proper measurements and then began sewing them in late July. I really hope you like them," Konan replies shyly, looking a little nervous, but still smiling, obviously proud of her work. But it seems the little insecure part of her mind is nagging as she's holding hers, like she's not sure what to do with it.

"Konan-chan," Zetsu murmurs, "we love them. They're amazing." He's brushing his fingers over one of the clouds. The nervous look on her face softens marginally and she smiles at him.

"Yeah, Konan-chan, they're awesome~" Deidara chirps. "I love the little swirly clouds!" Everyone responded similarly, only confirming Zetsu's and Deidara's words. They were truly amazing, and a wonderful present. I'd probably wear this jacket all the time now.

"Well!" I say. "I think we should all pass our presents around to the recipients and then open them at our own paces, cause we've been at this for like fifteen minutes and our pace is pretty slow. Plus I'm really hungry."

Everyone agrees and presents are passed around. I turn to Pein, nudge him, and hand him the presents I'd gotten for him, requiring both a bag and a box. I knew that he had always really wanted to have all black titanium piercings for all of the ones he had but never seemed to have enough money for them. So I took it upon myself to buy him an entire set of black titanium piercings. And then two bottles of nail polish, his favorite kind (the color of his eyes). And also a case for all of his piercing jewelry to go in. All in all it was the most I'd spent on anyone for this Christmas. I watch him expectantly as he first opens the bag. He takes out the tissue paper and then freezes.

"Madara... is this-"

"The piercings you always wanted? Yeah, all seventeen. Black titanium. I hope that you like them," I tell him. He smiles a toothy grin as excitement stirs in him.

"Thank you," he says louder than normally, reaching over a few boxes to hug me in one quick motion. I just manage to hug him back and he withdraws, continuing to look through what I gifted to him with a calmer smile. He sees the nail polish and his smile grows. He unwraps the box and by this point I too was grinning, happy with my gifting choices for him. I was a little bit worried he would deny them, but the grin on his face let me know otherwise. He turns to me. His smoky gray eyes gazed into mine. "Thank you, Madara-kun. Please, open yours."

"You're welcome!" I reply. I accept the box he hands me and unwrap it. I was trying to be careful but was really excited to see what it was, so I accidently messed up the paper. And when all the wrapping paper was off, I examine the box. It was a digital camera.

"So you can take pictures of everyone," he explains. "I know you don't have a lot of them around, and thought maybe you'd want more. I'm sorry if you don't like it-"

I set the box carefully, but quickly, aside, lean over the distance between us and hug him tightly, letting my head rest in the crook of his neck. "Thank you so very much," my voice a whisper as I was swimming in happiness inside. I stay there for a few quiet moments, just hugging him, letting him know how grateful I felt. He hugs me back just as tightly, and I feel a spark of hope well up in my chest. I push it down as quick as it managed to lurk out of my soul. We release each other and I remove the camera from the box. He opens other presents, though he glances over to see my reaction frequently. I'm smiling to myself, putting in batteries and taking pictures of everyone else. My favorite picture so far was of Itachi and Kisame exchanging gifts. Kisame got Itachi a fishbowl and nearly every single CD released by The Cure (extremely expensive if I do say so myself) that he could possibly retrieve. Itachi hand made two plushies, a shark and a weasel. When Itachi handed over his present, Kisame just smiled like an idiot and gave the shark plush back, saying something about how it could always remind Itachi of him when they were apart. Itachi let out a rare smile at those words, a smile that widened when Kisame gave him the present. They were adorable, and I was lucky enough to get pictures of the exchange: Kisame with a big grin on his face looking in Itachis direction with his weasel plushy in hands and Itachi, smiling contently at Kisame with his shark plushy in one hand while the other rested on Kisame's present.

In my pile I get two presents from Zetsu, presumably the gift he told me would be here today. Both gift bags. I open the first and find two packets of seeds. Bleeding heart flowers. In the other bag is a pair of gloves, a few gardening tools and a guide to planting flowers. I grin; I couldn't wait until I could plant them.

~BELIEVE~

_** Christmas time in the past was time spent in my room. **_

_** When I had just turned sixteen, my mother went into a particularly violent mood. She threw six plates, four cups and all the sharp knives in our house at me, more specifically at my head. I managed to dodge all but one cup, which hit me in the back as I was running from her. Other physical injuries I sustained during that holiday included three lit cigarettes put out on either my wrist or my arm, several yanks of my hair and nearly getting pushed down the stairs (on two separate occasions). The verbal abuse increased in intensity until I had to sneak out in the mornings just so I didn't receive a death threat right before school. Then she disappeared on a business trip two weeks after Christmas. I was so used to her hating me that I could easily brush aside her hatred. **_

_** But I could still see the cigarette burns on my arm and wrist, and I could still hear the sound of breaking glass.**_

-KONAN-CHAN'S POV-

Eight o'clock on Christmas day is when I finally get home. I head upstairs to my room after talking to my parents for a while finding out how they spent Christmans. When I get there I set all of my bags down on my bed, withdrawing a dress from one of them. I wanted to try it on as soon as possible.

Once it's on I find myself staring at my image in the mirror. The dress fit perfectly. That made me extremely happy. It was a black dress with golden accents. The black shoulder straps connected to the main body of the dress by little golden hoops. It hid about three fourths of my thighs and on the right side had a deep slit, up to my navel, with interwoven gold chains keeping it together (so that which I wished to remain unexposed was kept hidden). I smile happily at myself. Then, from the corner of my eye, I notice a small black box sitting on my desk. I turn around, frowning slightly. I didn't put that there. So who did? I cross my room, stop in front of my desk, and scoop the little box up. It was small, rectangular, like a jewelry box. I open it up.

Inside rests one of the most beautiful necklaces I've ever seen. It's incredibly simple, and my preferred style of jewelry. On a small, intricate silver chain hangs a pendant fashioned to look like a vivid red and orange maple leaf. In the bottom of the box rests a piece of folded up paper, pale white cardstock. I unfold it and see neat handwriting, reading:

_'Maple leaves are said to symbolize the sweetness and wonders of love as they occur in every day life. Please wear this as a constant reminder of all the love you experience, and so you will know that you will always be loved. _

_Zetsu.' _

I feel my cheeks flush. So he really cared, huh? I would wear it. Just for him.

-MADARA'S POV-

About half-an-hour after my friends leave, my brothers arrive, arms laden with food, gifts, board games, and movies. They declared that tonight we would finally begin the long process of catching up, learning more about how the other side had been through the years. Honestly, for all the anger I felt towards them, I couldn't stop some of the happiness and relief I felt knowing they were back. And for me.

DONE~

:3 Well I am relieved that this has been completed. Yeah, major relief. And chapters seven through nine have been mostly completely finished, so hopefully you dear readers will not have to wait so very long for it. I ask that you give reviews, if you liked this chapter. Thank you very much for reading ^^

ALSO: I've changed gears- no more MadaPein, but instead PeinMada.


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